2001 IIHF World Junior Championship

SCORE BOARD

All eyes will be on 17-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk, a 6-3, 200-pound center who is likely to be the top choice
in the 2001 NHL draft. Kovalchuk led Russia to the gold medal at last year's World Under-17 Challenge in
Timmins, Ont. Pint-sized Evgeny Muratov, and Pavel Vorobiev are also sharpshooters to watch. Winger Evgeni
Shastin and defenseman Anton Volchenkov have excellent pedigrees - their fathers both played for the Central
Red Army Club when it was a powerhouse in Europe. Andrei Shefer, top choice of the Los Angeles Kings in 1999,
is back in Russia this season after averaging better than a point a game for the Quebec League Halifax
Mooseheads in 1999-2000. Defenseman Kirl Safronov, a gold medalist at Winnipeg in 1999, is expected to be
released to play by the AHL Springfield Falcons. Petr Vorobiev was fired from his job as head coach of
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the Russian Superleague in November, but managed to maintain his position as national
junior team coach. Goaltending could be the team's only weakness. Sergei Mylnikov, son of the goalie by the
same name who gave up Mario Lemieux's historic winning goal in the 1987 Canada Cup, is number 1 and some say
he is about as mediocre as his father.